More charges placed in Y-12 security breach

A federal grand jury in Knoxville has returned a three-count superseding indictment against Michael Walli, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, adding an additional count of injuring national-defense premises.

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Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

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Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 8:24 PM
Updated Dec 6, 2012 at 8:26 PM

Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 8:24 PM
Updated Dec 6, 2012 at 8:26 PM

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

A federal grand jury in Knoxville has returned a three-count superseding indictment against Michael Walli, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, adding an additional count of injuring national-defense premises.

In August 2012, a federal grand jury in Knoxville returned a three-count indictment against 63-year-old Walli of Washington, D.C.; 82-year-old Rice, a nun from Las Vegas; and 57-year-old Boertje-Obed of Duluth, Minn., for destroying property within the Y-12 National Security Complex, depredation against property of the United States in an amount exceeding $1,000, and trespassing onto U.S. Department of Energy property.

Trial had been set for Feb. 26, in U.S. District Court, in Knoxville, but may be rescheduled as a result of the superseding indictment.

The additional count of the superseding indictment alleges that on or about July 28, Walli, Rice, and Boertje-Obed, aiding and abetting each other, with intent to injure, interfere with, and obstruct the national defense of the United States, did willfully injure, destroy and contaminate, and attempt to injure, destroy and contaminate national-defense premises, specifically, buildings and grounds of Y-12. The remaining counts of the superseding indictment are the previously-charged counts for destroying property within Y-12 and depredation against property of the United States in an amount exceeding $1,000. The previously-charged count of trespassing has not been charged in the superseding indictment.

The new count of injuring national-defense premises carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. Destroying property within Y-12 carries a maximum prison term of five years. Depredation against U.S. property in an amount exceeding $1,000 carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. The maximum fine is $250,000 per count.

The new charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The trio of anti-nuclear activists are accused of breaching the perimeters of the Y-12 plant during the early morning hours of July 28 and spray painting a wall at the Highly-Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility (HEUMF), and pouring human blood. They allegedly cut through security fences and carried backspacks containing candles, spray paint, flowers, hammers, bolt cutter tools, matches, a banner, a Bible and copies of a letter.

The $549 million storage bunker at Y-12 holds the nation's primary supply of bomb-grade uranium.

The trio is part of the Transform Now Plowshares group, an activist group that protests against nuclear weapons. Members protest yearly outside of Y-12 along with members of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Allliance and others. Several have been arrested on a variety of offenses over the years and have served time in jail and prison.

The OREPA plans to hold "nonviolent, nonconfrontational" vigils at Y-12 "weekly on Sunday — forever," according to its website.